


The Romanian Summer: Chinese Fireball

by Thenewmrsweasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 17:18:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11166450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thenewmrsweasley/pseuds/Thenewmrsweasley
Summary: Hermione works with Charlie in Romania, when the reserve gets one of her favorite dragons will she take it as a sign to be more bold about her feelings?





	1. Chapter 1

Romania was very hot, there was no denying that. _It's a good thing I got rid of all that hair._ When Hermione Granger had moved to Romania, the complete opposite of Britain, she had had the foresight to change her appearance so she could acclimate to her new home easier. With her hair in a pixie cut at least, it was straight and was only messed up after sleeping on it.

Her smooth skin was tanned over instead of the creamy white it had been growing up, her muscles toned from the work she did. It was almost as if she was an entirely different person. Except of course, that she wasn't.

The war still had its effects on her, she had put on a brave face through the whole ordeal but running around the world at seventeen and being the one the boys relied on for information was taxing. Harry and Ron had spent most of their Hogwarts days asking her questions, wanting help with essays, and help studying. When they left school in search of the horcruxes they still asked her questions, only they were much more difficult than before. Where to find and how to destroy artefacts of dark magic created by the most evil wizard of their time was something she hadn't just read in some book. She had to figure out where to get the information and with the two of them constantly badgering her about it taking the time to find it wasn't easy.

Then, there was the actual fighting. First in the coffee shop, that was easy. She had stunned many people in Dumbledore's Army. Then in the forest with the snatchers, which was mainly just running and trying to think of a clever way to disguise Harry. Rubbing her forearm, Hermione thought of what came next. Bellatrix Lestrange torturing her for information, the word _mudblood_ forever etched into her skin. No one had asked about it after, but Molly had made sure to keep an eye on it so it healed nicely.

Bellatrix had chosen the wrong person to interrogate. Not that Ron would have given up anything either, but Hermione was much less willing to give up information under duress. Instead she had let the crazy witch carve up her arm like a Christmas ham, insulting her and putting her in her place all at the same time. The knife had been pressed up against her neck, the artery pulsating against the cold steel threatening the skin to break. But when the boys, her boys had saved her that was when the real war started. The Battle of Hogwarts ended it all, the deaths were finally over, but the destruction was only getting started.

Hermione had been getting nightmares ever since Harry had killed Voldemort, about the torture, her friends being tortured, people she knew dying, Fred… Maybe moving away and changing everything about herself was a way to try and change the outcome, maybe that was her way of trying to get rid of the nightmares.

She hadn't told anyone about them, it would only make them worry and it wasn't worth the hassle.

"Hermione, you awake?" Charlie Weasley had opted to be her mentor on the dragon reserve when she arrived; he knew her and what would drive her to be the best dragon tamer she could be. "I thought you said you wanted to run this morning?"

"I'm coming, just getting dressed." When they started running around the reserve every morning, Hermione had started by wearing a tee shirt, then a tank top, and eventually resigning to run in shorts and sports bra. The Romanian sun was brutal even in the morning, and Hermione had gotten to comfortable being there that showing off her toned stomach meant more to her than hiding it.

Jogging down the steps Hermione met Charlie in the doorway strapping his wand holster to his forearm. Hermione took the matching holster off her coat hook and did the same.

"You alright this morning Mem?" Charlie had decided that with the new look and life, Hermione decided a new nickname as well.

"Didn't sleep well last night," It wasn't a lie, the nightmare shad kept her awake for most of the night, but she didn't feel like telling him that just yet. "But I reckon I'll still be in better shape than you when we're done this run."

With a chuckle the pair left the house and started running the five kilometre's around the housing part of the reserve. Waving good morning to a few of the other tamers, healers, and hatchers that were on their way to assignments Charlie and Hermione continued their run with only a few comments between them. It wasn't that they didn't talk, but for them the run was the only time they felt like talking didn't actually matter.

Just like every other day, at the final stretch of the run Charlie tried sprinting out ahead of Hermione so he could "win" by reaching their block of houses first. It had only been the past two months that she was able to pace with him and eventually beat him causing a victory lap around the redhead pumping her arms. The loser cooked breakfast.

"Alright, alright Mem, shower and I'll meet you at my place for breakfast."

Running into her house, which was right next to Charlie's, Hermione jumped in the shower and washed the sweat and grime off of her skin not bothering the give herself a proper wash because she would just need to have another shower before bed. Using magic to dry her skin and hair, she put on her jeans, work shirt, and boots before walking to Charlie's and sitting on his couch.

"What do you want today?"

"Eggs sounds delicious."

"Omelet's it is." Charlie started cooking as Hermione searched through his bookshelves, something she did every time she entered his home.

The pair ate their breakfast and joked around a bit more until finally it was time to do some work. Today was the day the reserve welcomed it's new Chinese Fireball from the Himalayas which meant that Hermione was more excited to start the day than ever.

"I somehow always forget Fireball's are your favorite dragon."

"Which is interesting considering how much I talk about them."

She had been at the reserve for two years and already she had been given every book about Chinese Fireball's that had been written and several pieces of jewelry depicting them as gifts. Whenever Ginny found something she would send it to her friend with a lovely note about how much she was missed.

"Well then Miss Smartypants, what's my favorite dragon?"

"Swedish Shortsnout, because green is your favorite color."

Having finally reached the assignments building, the pair met up with the rest of the welcoming committee and went over the details of bringing the Fireball into his new enclosure. As soon as they were in position the dragon could be seen coming over the mountains in the distance.

The tamers flying alongside the dragon had their wands extended toward it, shimmering ropes connecting around the small dragons body to keep it from flying away. It had also been inhibited enough to keep from being aggressive but still able to fly. The Romania crew jumped on their brooms and flew in formations towards their newest member, they led the group towards the enclosure and took over for the tamers so they could go rest.

It was customary that when a group delivered a dragon they were given whatever they needed to recuperate from the flight. Romania was only a few hours fly away, but with a dragon it might seem like days. The healers met them at a tent put up right outside the new enclosure with drinks, food, and shade. Then they were shown to their lodgings and showers.

"What do you think Mem?" Charlie roared over the wind around them. The only response she was able to give was a wide smile and tentative movement towards the new dragon. Charlie, being her mentor and partner in the mission followed behind the broom watching as the Fireball walked around a few of the trees in its enclosure until finding the rocky cave. Hermione kept smiling as she watched it jump up and climb the rocks until it went into the cave, when it returned he stuck his snout out of the entrance and laid down to sleep after a long journey.

"Probably time to go," the sad mumble was almost heartbreaking to Charlie but he had to agree to let sleeping dragons lie. "Does he have a name yet?"

"Not that I know of just yet, I'm sure you can find one that suits him though."

Over the following week Hermione would call out random names to what seemed like no one in particular but Charlie always answered her with his opinion on them. The best she had come up with was Sparky, the worst was Beauregard.

"We could call him Beau!" She argued after it was promptly nixed. The look that she received from her partner was enough to make her drop it, Beauregard was a dumb name for a dragon.

One day, while Charlie was out in the nearby wizarding village that almost resembled Diagon Alley, he spotted a beautiful necklace. It was of a Fireball, of course, the wings were outstretched to meet the chain and the body glowed with the reds, oranges, and yellows that were so distinct on the dragon. Knowing that it would make a great gift Charlie snatched it up and went on his way. When he got back to his house on the reserve he set the box on his chest of drawers and left to meet Hermione and the rest of the tamers for dinner.

They were going out on a special celebratory dinner for the Antipedian Opaleye's mating and laying what seemed to be a perfectly healthy egg. So everyone was meeting at the local pub for chips and pints.

"Hermione, you ready to go?" It wasn't unheard of for the two of them to just let themselves into the others home, it did mean that they had been caught in varying stages of undress and in awkward but funny situation, but what Charlie had walked into was something he had never expected. "Wow, you're drinking in your knickers."

"Shut it Char, you've seen in my sports bra every day for the past year."

"But I've never seen your bum, looking good by the way."

Hermione rolled her eyes and ran up the stairs to get dressed leaving Charlie to watch her go and wonder happily.

Up in her room, Hermione sighed. She had had a crush on her partner for a few months now, liked him as a person for years. She had hoped that standing in her kitchen almost entirely naked would have stirred something up inside Charlie to make a move, but maybe she had been wrong. Slipping into her shorts and a thin long sleeved shirt she returned to the sitting room and let Charlie know she was ready to go.

The pub was close, but since they were wizards the pair apparated to the alley outside and met their colleagues inside.

"There you two are!" Sarah, one of the lead tamers greeted. "We all thought you had gotten into something." With a wink she turned back to her husband. Charlie's ears burned red, the curse of the Weasley's and their embarrassment which caused Hermione to snicker and order two pints for them.

"What happened that you're turning into a tomato?" Jeremy was Charlie's best friend on the reserve, if he could tell anyone what had happened. "So you just walked in and she was standing there in the nude?"

"Yup, and I'm not sure what to make of it."

Hermione brought over the pints and said hello to Jeremy.

"How're you liking the new Chinese Fireball?"

"I love it! He's gorgeous and I really can't wait to see what he does while he's here."

"Hermione come here!"

Waving at the boys she walked towards the rest of the girls

"Alright Char, I'm pretty sure I know what she's going at." Shrugging over his beer, Jeremy continued. "She's hot for you."

"What? No, there's no way. She's a friend of the family; she wouldn't feel that way about me."

"Look across the bar over at her right now. Where is she looking?"

"Back at me." The realization smacked Charlie in the face. "Oh shit."


	2. Chapter 2

For the rest of the evening, Charlie participated in only a few conversations spending most of his time thinking about Hermione.

"What've you got to lose?" Jeremy had asked. "She's bloody brilliant, gorgeous, and does something and you also love. Besides, it's not like your family is here to see it or even have to know about it if everything goes south."

Jeremy made sense, it wasn't like they had to tell anyone outside of the reserve that they were seeing each other, they would only tell people if they thought it was worth it. And now that the journalists (Hermione called them vultures) had given up camping around the border of the reserve trying to get a glimpse of the war hero there wasn't much reporting done around them.

For the night though, Charlie would let it be and not bring it up in front of their friends. At least that was the plan, until Hermione sidled over towards him.

"Having fun?" She asked draining the rest of her glass.

"Yeah it's alright. Just wait until the thing actually hatches, that'll be a party."

"You want another?" Motioning for two more the bar tender brought their drinks and waited to be paid.

Hermione instinctively reached for her purse before Charlie stopped her. "You bought my first one, I owe you."

The paid sat chatting for the next few minutes laughing at the drunkenness of their friends before the guys all decided to take the girls home so they wouldn't embarrass themselves. "We should probably go too." Racing to finish the beer they had just ordered they met up with everyone outside. "Hop on."

Charlie crouched down a bit and Hermione jumped on his back like a koala bear. It was easy to carry her around being so strong and her being so little, but he almost dropped her onto her bum when he felt a small hand caressing Charlie's chest. It was a light touch, almost like it wasn't even happening but he felt it.

Depositing Hermione on her stoop and wishing her good night, Charlie ran to his fireplace and threw floo powder into the flames. "Shell Cottage." Sticking his head into the hearth he saw a tiny pair of legs running around the sitting room followed by much larger legs. "Bill!"

"Uncle Chawlie!"

"Hiya Victoire, being good for mummy and daddy?"

The little blonde nodded and smiled as Bill scooped her up and sat in front of the fire. "What's up?"

"I need your help, I think Hermione likes me."

The laughter was almost infectious, if Charlie hadn't felt so sick about it. "I don't think that's a problem mate."

"It is when I'm not entirely sure and I don't want to ruin the relationship we do have by bringing it up."

"Well, what's changed that makes you think she fancies you now?" Charlie told him everything. From walking in on her naked, to the looks at the pub, and her hand on his chest and when he was done Bill smiled. "I don't think it's just Mione who fancies someone Char."

"I know how I feel about her, I need help figuring out how she feels about me!"

"Why can't you just ask her?"

The simplest solution is not always the one you find first. It would have been a lot less stressful to just ask Hermione how she felt about Charlie, she would have thought it admirable even and wouldn't have changed their friendship, but it didn't seem romantic in any way.

"I could do that. Thanks Bill."

"Bye bye Uncle Chawlie!"

Leaving the fire place with a plan forming in his mind, Charlie decided to go to bed.

Early the next morning Hermione was in his kitchen yelling about their run, for having drank as much as she had the brunette was awfully awake.

"Let's go." Charlie said jumping down the stairs and strapping on his arm holster. The run went as it usually did, until they got to the stretch of the run where they usually raced.

"I have a new wager today," Looking over he could see that Hermione was interested. "You get to make your own but if I win today I get to take you out on a date."

"Alright, let's do this."

"What happens if you win?"

There was no answer, Hermione broke out into a full on run which caught Charlie by surprise. He bolted after her catching up after only a moment and with one last shred of energy pulled out in front to beat Hermione home. Standing in front of their houses gasping for air Charlie looked worried.

"If you didn't want to go out you could have just said so instead of trying to kill me you know."

"I want to, I just also wanted to earn it. You can pick me up at eight." Smiling, Hermione walked away and into her house knowing that her bum swayed just the right way to catch Charlie's eye.

Their rotation had off that day so Hermione spent the next few hours showering, making sure her hair looked just right and picking out several outfits she could wear. Shoving the clothes into her bag she made her way to the hatchery.

"Hey Tessa, I need your help."

"What's up Hermione?"

Tessa was tall, her brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun but her features were still soft. She was from America but had lived half her life in London so the mixed accent almost made Hermione feel at home.

"Well, I have a date tonight and I need help with what to wear." Ignoring the _oohs_ and _ahhs_ from her friend, Hermione started pulling out the outfits for Tessa to see.

"This one would be good for a dinner type date, a restaurant or something of the like. But this one is good for any type of activity, so say he takes you to a lake for a picnic or something you're not overdressed and it's comfortable but you're still showing off your stuff."

They went on for an hour catching up mixed with Tessa trying to guess Hermione's mystery date. Eventually Hermione said thanks and good bye before making her way back to the housing area.

Charlie was standing outside taking a scroll from an owl before taking off again. "Hey there."

"Hey yourself, collecting your fan mail?"

"Letter from George. I actually wanted to talk to you, before we go out tonight I thought I should let you know that I have something planned that you'll want to be comfortable for."

"Good to know, thanks. Now I want to know why you asked me out."

It was just like Hermione to ask questions boldly Charlie had learned long ago to simply let her have the truth and no one would get hurt.

"Would you mind if I told you tonight?"

Smiling, the pair went into their respective houses to prepare for their date.

At eight o'clock Hermione was curled up in her chair reading when someone knocked at her door. She had been ready for nearly an hour feeling nervous that she would keep Charlie waiting.

But he was here, on the dot and Hermione gasped when she opened the door. He had brought her a bouquet of calla lilies and was wearing a tee shirt that made his biceps pop out of the sleeves. Setting the flowers in a vase Hermione was led out towards the broom closet by Charlie.

Pulling out his favorite broom he mounted it and pulled Hermione on in front of him, flying wasn't something either of them was afraid of and yet their bodies shivered. The trip out was easy and fast, the night was warm and the wind on their faces was pleasant. When Charlie brought the broom over a hill, the sight made her gasp.

The lake was crystal clear, shining with the setting sun and rising moon combined. The shores were empty with beaches of golden sand. When Charlie landed he led her to a blanket he had set up for a picnic, inside the basket was a bottle of elf wine, grapes, cheese, crackers, and cold chicken.

For the rest of the date, the pair just sat and talked, getting to know each other in more innocuous ways, favorite small things that wouldn't have been noticed or cared by anyone else, foods that they enjoyed, and funny stories.

"So, you said you would tell me why you asked me out tonight."

"I did," Charlie took a long drink and smiled. "Hermione I think you're one of the most brilliant people I have ever met. You're funny, and intelligent, and you're brave. You like dragons almost as much as I do sometimes and you're always willing to learn something new, there isn't much that you're willing to hide from and I admire that. I think I've fancied you for a long time and I'm just now realizing it and feeling like it's okay to act on. You're no longer my little brothers best friend, you're my friend now and we've gotten close over this past year, I'd like to be even closer if you're up for it."

The silence following Charlie's speech was broken by a giggle. A cute, small, and happy giggle. Hermione reached out with her small soft hand and grasped Charlie's larger calloused one. Together, they watched the stars holding hands.

When the wine was emptied they flew back to the reserve and walked slowly towards the houses.

Making it to Hermione's door Charlie leaned against the doorframe. "I had a really wonderful night Mem,"

"I did too Charlie. I'd like to do this again sometime."

Closing the distance between them, Charlie leaned down until his lips met Hermione's. The kiss was soft and slow, and thought it was only one kiss it felt as if Hermione had been properly snogged, her knees were weak and her breath was taken away.

"Would you like to come in for a night cap?"

Shocked, Charlie remained quiet before nodding his head. While Hermione was not afraid of being bold, he wasn't sure she had ever been so forward. She grabbed two glasses and poured more wine into them before bringing one over to Charlie and sitting with him on the couch.

It wasn't long before they were snogging again, this time rushed and heated. Wrapping her legs around Charlie's strong waist, Hermione was laid down on the couch with her date hovering over top of her kissing down her neck and color bone, sucking on the soft spot where her neck and shoulder met, and nibbling lightly.

Hermione ran her cool hands up inside Charlie's shirt scratching at the soft skin. Charlie broke away and pulled his shirt roughly over his head and placing his hands on Hermione's midsection underneath her shirt. His chest was hard with muscle and made Hermione groan thinking about it, thinking of the things he could do and how he could move them around excited her. Her shorts hung low on her hips as it was but she could feel the need to tug them lower, Charlie seemed to have read her mind because his hands deftly moved to unbutton them and shimmy them down her legs, sitting up so he could pull them restrictive clothes off of her long tan legs.

Taking the moment, Hermione stood and started walking towards the stair case leaving a trail of clothes in her wake. Reaching the top of the stairs Charlie picked her up and continued towards the bedroom where he laid her on the bed and started kissing down her body.

There was something about the morning sun that made it always land right on your face. Hermione stirred under the blankets, her body was sore in ways it hadn't been for a long time. The warmth of Charlie's arm draped over her midsection caused Hermione to open her eyes and try to remember what had happened, her early morning stupor made her shocked to see the stoned chest of Charlie in bed next to her.

"Morning," He mumbled pulling her body close to his.

"Good morning, do you want to skip the run today?"

"I would much rather spend the morning in bed with you."

And so they did just that, staying in bed reading and shagging until they decided it would be a good idea to get out of the house for a little bit.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hermione is that a love bite on your neck?"

Tessa's outburst caused everyone around them to look at her, some snickered when they saw the mark and others just shrugged it off. "Yell it a little louder there Tess, I'm sure there are some people here who didn't hear you."

"Well I mean I'm just a bit shocked really, you never struck me as the type."

"The type to get love bites?"

"No, the type to put out on a first date." With a wink Tessa linked arms with Hermione and made their way to the main building for their assignments. "So tell me all about this date of yours last night. Seems to have ended well."

"Everything about it was great. He took me to a beautiful lake for a picnic and we talked and then he came back to my place and, well, I guess you can figure out the rest."

"Yeah but I was details, what was he like in the sack?"

" _Great_."

In all honesty, Hermione had never felt so satisfied, she had been with a few people but none as pleasurable as Charlie had been. Even still today, almost twenty-four hours since their last shag, she was feeling content.

"Ugh, I'm so jealous. I can't find anyone who knows what they're doing, it's like guys just think being as rough as possible feels good or something."

The day went on with a few comments from people about the mark, but no more questions about her date. She and Charlie had agreed that they didn't want anyone to know about them yet so they acted as if nothing had happened.

"What happened to your neck Mem? Someone try to practice vampirism on you or something?" He joked meeting her along with the rest of the team at the enclosure they were working at.

"Something like that." No one looked twice at their playful banter which was openly flirting to them, but a normal day to everyone else.

Tessa met back up with the group after the fly around in the enclosure.

"Does Charlie know about this guy of yours?"

Hermione looked at her friend, confusion written on her face. "What do you mean? He saw the mark he must know I've seen someone."

"Well I just always thought that Charlie had a thing for you, I mean as soon as you got here he was so protective and jealous of any guy that went near you. It was like he was keeping you all to himself."

"You're just seeing things Tess, Charlie's brother is one of my best friends, his mum probably just asked him to keep an eye out for me or something."

Tessa dropped the subject, but still seemed like she believed she was right. It was true that Charlie had been protective when she arrived, but Hermione had just helped save the world which included being tortured and seeing her best friend dead. And it wasn't as if she had stopped dated when she got to the reserve, Hermione had gone out with several of the reserve staff that had come and gone. But none of those guys ever stuck around and not because of Charlie.

The rest of the day went on as it usually did, checking on the dragons and avoiding the Opaleyes fire since they were guarding an egg. Everyone was more tired than usual after dealing with the expecting parents so the group said goodbye and left to take showers and catch up on some sleep. Hermione practically ran to her bed and passed right out into a deep sleep.

"Mem, it's time to get up. You haven't eaten since breakfast." Hermione's eyes opened to meet blue ones smiling down at her. "And I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"Yeah, why don't you get up and take a quick shower, meet at my place when you're done."

Leaving to let her get ready, Charlie returned to his own home with a wide smile on his face.

After Charlie got home after his shift, he jumped in the shower. He wasn't tired at all but needed to get the sweat and dirt off his body.

When he got out of the shower there was a pounding at his front door, he knew that Hermione wouldn't bother knocking so Charlie threw on a towel and ran to it thinking something bad must have happened.

"Geeze Charlie why don't you put some clothes on mate?"

"George?"

"In the flesh, along with our two youngest siblings who admittedly are here to see Hermione, but I am here to see you."

"Why didn't you owl first? I could have taken a few days off to be with you."

"Oy, where's Mione?"

"Hello to you too, Ron."

Ginny ran up to her big brother for a hug but stopped short. "Maybe I'll wait until you're dressed."

"Come on in you lot, I'll go get Hermione."

The three youngest Weasley's made themselves comfortable in the sitting room as Charlie ran to his room and put clothes on, then ran next door to get Hermione. After knocking on her door to no answer he let himself in.

She was a peaceful sleeper, a smile on her face as she mumbled something incoherent.

After waking her and telling her about the surprise, Charlie returned to his home.

"So why did mum let you three travel all the way here without telling me about it?"

"Well, mum doesn't exactly know we've left England."

Ginny had finally given her brother a hug and settled on the couch. "What Ron means to say is that since none of us live with mum anymore, we decided together that we would come visit you two." As Ginny was finishing her story the front door opened and the young red head jumped over the couch to her best friend. "Hermione!"

"Ginny? What are you doing here? Charlie why didn't you tell me she was here?"

Everyone chuckled. "I told you I had a surprise didn't I?"

"I'm here too!" Ron huffed from the chair.

"Hello Ron." Hermione began towards him before noticing another red headed person in the room. "And George, good to see you!" George stood and hugged Hermione, picking her up and swinging her around.

"Alright George that's enough," Realizing that what he had just said sounded possessive Charlie tried to fix it. "We had a rough day with the Opaleye enclosure."

"Yeah, Charlie almost became barbeque until his amazing partner saved him."

" _You_ saved Charlie?" Laughter filled the sitting room. "Charlie Weasley the man who worked with dragons for most of my life, was saved by Hermione who has worked here for one year?"

The group caught up as Charlie made dinner and they all drank wine, the three guests were excited to see the rest of the reserve but they were going to have to wait.

"I'll go tomorrow morning and get visitor passes from Mr. Tucker, but remember if you do anything to hurt or even try to touch the dragons you could get arrested and this isn't the British Wizengamot it's the Romanian one which is much less lenient."

After finishing off three bottles of wine everyone was starting to get tired.

"Hermione and I each have an extra bedroom, Ginny why don't you stay in Mem's and Ron and George can bunk in mine."

The group split with the promise that they would get to see some of the reserve in the afternoon. When Ginny entered Hermione's house she sat on the overstuffed couch and stared at her friend.

"Who is it?"

"What do you mean Ginny?"

"I mean, who is this bloke that's gotten you all smiley and happy."

Sighing, she sat down. "We've only been out once so I don't want to tell you just yet."

"Well, I see that at least the first date went well. The boys might not have noticed your neck but I sure did."

"Oh merlin, please don't start Gin."

"I need to tell you that the real reason Ron came along was because he misses you and wants to apologize for how things were left with you."

This was news that took Hermione by surprise. "But, I thought things were left that way for a reason."

_After the final battle had ended at Hogwarts, Hermione stayed at the Burrow for one week before leaving for Romania with Charlie. Everyone had assumed that she would stay and get a cushy desk job with the Ministry but she just had to go. Ron had tried everything in his power to keep her in England, but to no avail._

_They had danced around each other for almost a decade with nothing to show for it except for one kiss in the heat of the battle. It was then that Hermione realized her feelings for Ron were nothing more than intrigue and he had agreed. After all the loss and danger they had been through, it was not a good idea to start a relationship that would fail._

"Ron doesn't feel like it's over Hermione, but if you do you need to let him know."

"I did! I told him how I felt and he said that he felt the same way and that it was good we just remain friends. I don't know what do with this now that I'm dating someone else! I can't put this on him!"

"That's why I wanted to tell you before he got to you, I remember when you told him how you felt and I remember that he _was_ fine with it. But I also know that mum wanted you to be in daughter by marriage no matter what and I'm pretty sure she manipulated Ron's small brain into thinking you two were perfect together."

"Well that's not fair! We talked about it and decided what we wanted it isn't her choice!"

"I know, but mum has been dropping some not so subtle hints to Ron, in front of all of us, that she would like for him to reconnect with you and bring you back to England."

Hermione was shocked. How could someone meddle in the lives of her children and their friends? Molly had plenty of older sons who were supposed to be settling down and having kids of their own, and yet she was focusing on Ron and Hermione.

"She has to know that Ron and I would have been no good together, we fight too much she's seen us spend too much time together."

"Mum has her own agenda you know that, and Ron needs someone to talk sense into him and it's not going to be her. He wanted to come talk to you and George thought it was a good idea because you're the one person he would listen to with how bad of an idea it is."

The charm bracelet she wore suddenly seemed very interesting. Molly and Arthur had given it to her for her seventeenth birthday, the witches equivalent of a wizard's watch. Ginny had one as well, though her charms were different save the Gryffindor lion.

"I have no idea how I'm going to explain this."

"Well how about we get some sleep and you can think on it some more."

Saying their good nights Hermione went into her room and crawled into bed. She wasn't tired after her nap but there was so much to think about. Deciding that she wasn't going to fall back asleep, she went out for a walk around the reserve.

"Bit early for work isn't it?"

The morning had been so silent Hermione didn't think anyone was awake, even the dragons. "I couldn't sleep."

Charlie shrugged. "Well you were pretty knackered earlier. Something else on your mind?"

"Something Ginny said."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Apparently your mum has gotten it into Ron's head that he and I should be together no matter what, and he's come all this way to tell me so."

Charlie had known that she and Ron were close during their Hogwarts days, he even knew about the kiss. But that was nothing compared to the Hermione he had gotten to know over the past year. "Well then, that's my mum for you. But don't let it get you down, Ron's very easy to steer if you hadn't already figured out my mum has been doing it for years now."

"I just don't think it's very fair. She can't just choose who I'm going to be with."

"She's a meddler, Mem. There isn't much to do except tell Ron how you feel."

"He's not the Weasley I want, I don't want you to think I'm upset for that reason."

"I should hope not, I don't want to have to compete with my brother over you."

Charlie placed his hands on her hips and pulled Hermione towards him and kissed her soundly.

"We should get back before our guests get suspicious. I'll see you in the morning."

"That's fine, I know you're going to sort out letting those three into the reserve. I'll see you when we get our assignment."

The pair walked back towards their houses to try and get a little bit of sleep before starting their day.


	4. Chapter 4

Ginny ran with Hermione the next morning as she was trying to keep in shape for quidditch, but she was much more talkative than Charlie ever was. She kept going on about Harry and how happy they were together and that he was sorry he couldn't get away from his auror training to see her, how excited she was to finally try out for the Holyhead Harpies, and how amazed she was at the reserve.

It was a good thing Hermione had two loo's because she had to shower and get to work while Ginny also wanted to shower and meet up with her brothers.

"I'll see you this afternoon." Hermione yelled as she ran out of the house and to the main building to meet with her team.

"There you are Granger, thought we were going to have to send out a search party. You'll be working with the Chinese Fireball today with Weasley."

Jogging over to the enclosure to meet up with her small team for the day Hermione grinned. Charlie tossed a broom over towards her and filled her in. "We're making sure he's getting used to his surroundings and hasn't hurt himself or found a way out."

The four tamers mounted their brooms and flew into the enclosure. The Fireball had made a circle over by the edge of its pen where it looked like it cooked the food the tamers dropped in. After a thorough check it looked as if the dragon was acclimating just fine in its new home which made Hermione very happy.

By the end of the check the dragon itself came out of the cave and took flight. Something like this put even the most experienced tamers on edge and suddenly the wands were out. But they were all surprised to see that the Fireball merely flew over to one of the tamers, Samantha who had only been there for a few months and she backed away. Next he went to visit Charlie who patted him on the head and sent him towards Hermione.

When the dragon approached he met Hermione's eyes and saw that she meant no harm. She reached out and rubbed the dragon's head and snout watching the steam rise from its nostrils in happiness.

"Hi there buddy." After a moment Hermione had a wonderful idea and looked over at Charlie. "Buddy!"

"It's a wonderful name."

Hermione took a few more minutes and flew around with Buddy, before saying good bye and leaving with the other tamers.

"That must've been a dream come true." Charlie greeted when she met him at the broom building. "He seems very loveable."

"I couldn't even believe it. He just wants to play!"

They left to go meet Ron, Ginny, and George for lunch and a tour around the reserve. They were found playing exploding snap outside the houses, Ginny and George each throwing their cards near Ron's feet to explode.

"Who wants lunch?" Charlie yelled catching Ron's attention as several cards exploded.

Clearing the mess they all went to the pub for some food, and then to see the dragons.

"Hermione made a new friend today." Charlie announced as they ordered. "That new Chinese Fireball just flew right up to us and nuzzled with her."

Everyone else was amazed, the only time they had seen dragons was at the Triwizard Tournament where they tried to kill the champions. To see that one of them was friendly enough to _cuddle_ with.

After lunch they went around looking at all the enclosures trying to get a look at the dragons. It was feeding time for some of them so it wasn't difficult. When they got to the Fireball enclosure he was flying around but George wanted to see more.

"Show us how he acted earlier Mione." Charlie nodded and she ran off to get brooms for them.

"No one ever goes into the enclosures alone, we'll go in and see if we can get him playful again but only for a few moments."

Again, Buddy came right now towards them and flew around before coming to have his head rubbed. Hermione whispered soothing words to him as he played.

After five minutes Charlie said it was time to get back and so she hugged Buddy around the neck and said good night.

"That's amazing!" Ginny screamed as they dismounted the brooms.

The rest of the tour wasn't as exciting as Buddy had been, but they enjoyed it nonetheless. The three were only in town for a few days and wanted to see as much of the reserve as possible, Charlie and Hermione had off the next day in their rotation and had planned a whole day with them showing the surrounding area.

A day was spent at the lake nearby to swim, and to the nearby village for trinkets, and then to the hatchery.

There were a few eggs in the hatchery sitting on top of simulated dragon fire so they could hatch. Most of the time the reserve got eggs from wild dragons who had died and wouldn't hatch without intervention, there was only a few times that the eggs had come from dragons actually at the reserve. Of course it was illegal to tamper with the eggs in Romania, so they were overseen by specialists handpicked by the Romanian Ministry.

Each egg was different taking after the breed. There was a Hungarian Horntail egg that was black and had what could have been spines, Rodesian Ridgeback egg that was brown and had ridges along it, and a Swedish Shortsnout that was bright green among the others.

Ron didn't seem too interested in the eggs but the others loved them, so they stayed as long as they could.

The next morning was when they left to go home, and although it had been a lovely time, George was anxious to get back to the shop.  
"Mione, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ron asked pulling her away from the sitting room outside. "Listen, I know that we've been through so much together and I really think that we made a mistake not giving it a chance."

"Ron, we talked about this and agreed that not being a couple was the best thing we could have done. You're right, we went through a lot together, but that doesn't mean we would be good at being boyfriend and girlfriend. We fought so much and I don't want that to keep going and ruining our chances of finding the person we're meant to be with." Ron remained silent, thinking of what was being said. "I know that your mum wants me in your family but this isn't the way to do it. We would be absolutely miserable being a couple."

"Are you seeing anyone else? Is that what this is about?"

"Yes and no. I am seeing someone but it's not someone that can replace you as a friend or mean as much as you do to me, he's not what's standing in the way of you and me becoming us."

Hugging Ron conceded that it was for the best and that he would just have to tell his mum to shove off the next time she mentioned it.

Rejoining the group Hermione met Charlie's eyes and smiled quickly before looking at Ginny and nodding. The rest of the night went off great as the group got ready to say their good byes.

The next morning was bittersweet as everyone said good bye. George was excited to have seen them, but was worried about the store and what had happened since he and Ron were gone. Ginny was excited to get back to Harry and her try outs. As the three grasped onto the old soda can and waved good bye, Charlie leaned over to Hermione.

"You know, we have the rest of the day off. And I have been dying to give you a proper snog these last few days."

Charlie carried Hermione on his back to his house and up the stairs where he pinned her against the wall to kiss up and down her neck until she was pulling at his trousers.

Hermione wasn't inexperienced, but Charlie was rather strong and when he got into it, she felt it. But, unlikely the rest he spent a good amount of time getting her warmed up and she most definitely enjoyed that.

They spent the day in bed together talking, then shagging, and even napping before deciding they needed to eat food.

"So what happened with Ron last night?"

"That's the first question you want to ask after we've just shagged? Is about your brother?" Charlie shrugged, he obviously didn't think it was weird. "He told me how he felt and I explained to him that not only would we be a terrible couple but that I was seeing someone presently."

"You told him?"

"I didn't tell him it was you, I just said that I was seeing someone." Hermione pulled on one of Charlie's large shirts and followed him to the kitchen. "Ginny doesn't know either, and I think we were conspicuous enough while they were here for them to not suspect."

"Alright, I just don't want everyone going round a twist about it."

Summer turned into fall, the Opaleye egg hatched which meant the tamers had to get the male out of the enclosure for everyone's safety. During the move one of the more inexperienced tamers got nervous and moved out of formation causing the male to take the opportunity and spit fire at them. Unfortunately Charlie got hit with some of the fire and fell from his broom.

"ARESTO MOMENTUM!" Hermione yelled, she kept in formation knowing that Charlie would be furious if she broke to go get him and endanger everyone else. There were others on the ground that would retrieve him and take him to the infirmary, he was in good hands.

After the move, Hermione made sure everything was done that needed to be before bolting over to the large white building.

"Where is he?" Hermione called to Greg, one of the healers. "Where's Charlie?"

"Hermione, I'll take you to him in a moment but you need to know the burns were quite severe. He's going to be in here for a few days at least."

"Will he be scarred? His mum will kill me if he's disfigured."

"We will do everything we can to make sure there's as little scarring as possible but to do that we need to work on him right away. You can be in the room but stay at the door for now, please?"

Agreeing to the terms she was brought into the room to see healers bustling over Charlie with burn salve and feeding him dreamless sleep potion. His left arm was completely burned with most of his side and some of his leg, his head and neck were red from the heat but nothing more. An hour went by and they were still putting more salve on his wounds until they were all satisfied.

The black skin started knitting together to make red skin, and then pink. Finally, Greg walked over with another jar. "This is cooling salve, to make the burning sensation go away. There's a jar of burn salve on the table just in case but for now he should just need this every couple of hours. I'll let you do it and give you some time."

Thanking all of them, Hermione walked over tentatively to the sleeping form of her boyfriend and uncapped the jar. The cream was cool to the touch, and when she started smearing it on Charlie's arm tears formed in her eyes.

He was burning up, just touching his skin lightly was making Hermione sweat. She used half the jar on his affected areas before she sat down. She couldn't even hold his hand it had been burned so badly.

"Hermione," Being shaken awake, Hermione realized she had fallen asleep. "Hermione why don't you go home and get some rest, I promise I will let you know as soon as something happens." Greg stood over her with a worried look on his face.

Hermione nodded and left taking one long look at Charlie before walking out of the building. She was accosted by the rest of the team outside.

"What's going on?"

"Is Charlie alright?"

"What happened?"

"Hush you lot! Let her speak."

"Charlie will be fine, he was burned pretty badly but the healers spent the last few hours making sure they got all of the burned areas, he's sleeping now but I'm not sure when he'll be able to wake up. They gave him a good amount of sleep potion."

"You look tired love, let's get you to bed."

Mr. Tucker, the reserve director approached Hermione and Tessa as they were walking towards the houses. "Miss Granger, may I have a word?"

"Let me know if you need anything," Tessa murmured leaving her friend's side.

"Miss Granger, I understand that Mr. Weasley was badly injured this afternoon is that correct?"

"Yes sir,"

"And how is he?"

"He'll be fine sir, just resting."

"That's good, very good. Miss Granger I know you are aware of our protocol requiring all staff involved in an assignment where there is an injury to write a report. No one will be reprimanded unless it was something they did deliberately so I would like for you to use the truth of what you saw and please include Mr. Weasley's condition as you were the only one in to see him."

"I will sir, I'll make sure it's on your desk by tonight."

"Go home and get some sleep first Miss Granger, one of my best tamers is in the infirmary, I don't need one of the others in there as well because of sleep deprivation. You can have it to me whenever it is finished."

"Thank you Mr. Tucker."

Each house and building on the reserve was connected by the floo network that superseded any other floo calls. So if someone was floo chatting with their mum and got a call from another building they would be cut off. As the houses didn't have fireplaces in the bedrooms, Hermione nested on her couch dragging her comforter and a pillow down to wait for Greg's call.

When the floo call finally came it was dark out, the fire blazed green and Genevive, another healers face appeared.

"Charlie's awake Hermione, he wants to see you."

Without a second word Hermione bolted out her door towards the infirmary. When she arrived Genevive was waiting for her and took her back to Charlie's room. He was sitting up, his skin was still pink and he looked like he was in some pain but he didn't have any other mark on him from earlier.

"Mem," Hermione raced over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I'm alright, I promise."

"I thought I'd lost you!" She cried into his shoulder. "Do you know what your mum would do to me if that happened? Or what it would do to me?"

Luckily, Genevive had left the room and hadn't witnessed the moment of intimacy between the two. Charlie leaned forward and gave her a kiss.

"You know I didn't want to get hurt, stupid git gave that dragon an opportunity to spit at us. We've taught them better haven't we?"

"Yes, we have. But theory and practice are two different things Charlie."

They held hands for a long while in silence, Hermione had been very scared when she watched Charlie go down, but her war instincts kicked in and she reacted so he wouldn't be more hurt when he reached the ground.

"You didn't tell my mum did you?"

"Merlin no, I wouldn't worry her like that."

"Then why is she standing outside my room right now?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Mrs. Weasley! What surprise, what are you doing here?" Hermione had gotten up and opened the door letting her into the room.

"Mum, I'm fine really. What are you doing here?"

"I got an owl from one of the healers that you had been injured, and since you put me down for your contact I rushed over here straight away." Charlie shut his eyes trying not to be annoyed. "What happened?"

"Damnit, I thought I changed that." The whisper was low enough that only Hermione heard. "We were moving a dragon into a different enclosure and something happened making him breath fire at us. I got hit, but Hermione kept me from hitting the ground and the healers fixed me right up. Look my arm is fine."

"And it was just your arm?"

"Yes mum, just my arm."

Charlie was free to leave the infirmary and invited his mother to spend the day with him since she was already here.

"Hermione dear will you be joining us?"

"Yes, she will. She's been instructed to keep an eye on me and let the healers know how my recovery is going."

The pair ate lunch in Charlie's house while Molly caught up with both of them. She insisted on cooking the meal and having her son relax.

"You need to put the cooling cream on in a little bit Charlie."

"Well lunch is almost ready, Hermione dear why don't you keep an eye on it while I help Charlie?"

Making their way up the stairs to Charlie's room, Molly unscrewed the jar. "What's this?"

The necklace he had bought for Hermione months ago was sitting on the dresser, completely forgotten about.

"Birthday gift for Hermione," He replied simply. "It's her favorite breed of dragon."

"I want to ask you something and I want you to answer me honestly Charlie," He nodded and pulled his shirt up over his left side to expose the skin. "Is she dating anyone?"

"Yes she is,"

"Well, is it serious? I was really rather hoping that she and Ron would reconcile-"

"From what I've heard mum, yes it's serious. She really likes this guy and she's very happy. She and Ron are not going to get back together, they're not happy as a couple but they are as friends. Please, just let her be."

Molly seemed taken aback at her son's honesty. But she nodded and applied the cream before rejoining Hermione who had gotten three plates of the lunch together on the table for them.

That night, Molly left to go home happy that Charlie was better and in good hands. She asked them to visit soon and if not at least owl.

"You'll be happy to know that I think I got her off your back for a while," Charlie announced as they walked back to the house. "She started asking about you and bringing up Ron, but I told her that you were in a very serious and happy relationship with someone I have never met."

"You're just the best aren't you? Thank you Charlie." Reaching their houses, Hermione sighed. "Tucker asked me to write a report on what happened, I should really start on it. They kissed good bye and went their separate ways.

_On the day of September the eighth, the tamers of groups A and B were tasked with moving the male Antipedion Opaleye to a new location to keep the newly hatched young Opaleye safe. During the move, Brian Gorona moved out of formation and the Opaleye took a chance to get rid of the other tamers by spitting fire. Charlie Weasley was hit by the fire and fell off his broom towards the ground. I continued on with the task and met with Weasley in the infirmary after I made sure everything was alright in the enclosure. The healers put burn salve on the affected areas followed by some cooling cream to keep the skin from becoming too warm. As of today, ninth September, Weasley is better with only the affected skin being tight when stretched. He is expected to have a full recovery within a few days._

Hermione was pleased with her report as she sent it off to Mr. Tucker's office and decided to curl into bed. She had felt so emotional in the past day, seeing Charlie get hit with the flames was something she had dreaded since she began working at the reserve. Now that had come true and she was terrified of what might happen if he was ever hit again.

The next morning she woke in time for their morning run, but Charlie wasn't downstairs like he usually was. Hermione got ready and walked into his house.

"Charlie, you awake?"

"In here," He called from the bedroom. "Not sure I'm going to be able to join you this morning Mem."

Hermione ran up the stairs to Charlie still in bed covering his left side. "Show me." She said sternly, when Charlie didn't pull the covers down Hermione moved across the room and gently removed them. "Charlie why didn't you come get me earlier?"

The side that had been burned was bright pink and hot to the touch. "I ran out of cooling cream and thought that I would be fine since it was getting better anyway. I guess I was wrong."

"I'm going to get you more, stay here and don't move." The infirmary was stocked full of creams and salves for burns so they were alright with giving Hermione a jar to take with her. When she got back Charlie had done what she said and hadn't moved, she instructed that he roll onto his good side so she could put more cream on the burns.

After the cream was all slathered on and Charlie was making faces at the discomfort, Hermione settled into bed facing him. "Why didn't you tell me when it started bothering you?"

"I didn't want to worry you anymore that you already were. I could see that you were scared after what happened and I wanted you to think I was alright, I was going to go to the infirmary while you were running I didn't think you'd actually come up here and check on me."

"Merlin Charlie, you're starting to scare me. Don't try and be brave about this, you got really hurt."

"I promise, I won't anymore." They were both off assignment for the day so Hermione spent their time together taking care of Charlie and cooking for them. The day went splendidly as they read together and Hermione was incredibly happy spending time with a shirtless Charlie.

A week later the healers said that Charlie was cleared to go back to work as he was fully recovered but they were only put on small and easy tasks for the time being.

Brian, the tamer who had gotten Charlie hurt wasn't in any type of trouble but did have to go through some of his training over again to make sure nothing like that would ever happen again.

"I feel terrible Charlie, I really do." Brian had said the first opportunity he had. "I should be sacked for what I did, I thought Hermione was going to hex me."

"Everything is fine, I'm as good as new and she never would have hexed you, she's been through worse. Don't worry about it mate, just remember your training and don't let it happen again, the next person might not be so lucky."

There was a reason Charlie was one of the top tamers in the reserve, he didn't get angry about accidents, he understood and instead let a lesson be learned. It was something Hermione admired about him, and what she strived to be.

Everyone was pleased to see Charlie finally out and about, they asked how he was and whether he would be helping them with the next big assignments.

"I think I'm going to ordered to take it easy for a bit," Charlie was sad, he loved dragons and even when he got hurt he wanted right back in with them.

"This is cause to celebrate!" Jeremy called hugging his friend. "Pub tonight, yeah? You too Hermione, you deserve to celebrate as much as everyone else." Jeremy laughed ruffling her hair. "She's been stuck with me all week mate, it's like she doesn't want to be my partner or something."

That night the groups met up at the pub and celebrated Charlie's recovery. Everyone laughed and joked, but Hermione stayed close to Charlie in case something happened. She wouldn't have him hide the pain from her again. But they weren't out very long before Charlie started feeling tired and said good night.

"Nurse, I need tending to!" He joked yelling across the bar to Hermione who in response rolled her eyes. But did lead Charlie out of the pub and to his house.

"Good night my lovely Mem," Charlie kissed her soundly on the lips before being tucked into bed.

"Good night you silly man."

Hermione returned to her house and pulled a piece of parchment out of her desk drawer.

_Dear Molly,_

_Charlie got news from the healers today that he is in perfect health. The burns are all healed up and aren't bothering him anymore._

_We talked, and we will be traveling back to England for Christmas if you'll have us at the Burrow? It would be easier for the two of us to only need one portkey, and I would love to see everyone and catch up._

_Always,  
Hermione_

It would be nice to be home for the holidays, to see her friends and spend time in the Burrow. And it would do good for Charlie to be home as well.

Charlie laid in bed, he wasn't drunk but with the recovery the few pints he had at the pub affected him more than they usually would have. So he laid in bed wondering what Hermione was doing next door, and when he would get back to his usual assignments.

 _Hermione's birthday is coming up, I need something special to celebrate with her._ He already had the gift, now he just needed a nice idea for dinner.

Falling asleep to the thoughts of where to take his girlfriend to her birthday dinner, Charlie realized her had left her gift out on his dresser for the past few months. But if she had seen it, Hermione hadn't said a word.

The next morning everything was back to normal, Charlie woke Hermione up ready for their run and he was vigorous in their assignments.

"So," He spoke up as they were walking to the main building to report their assignment. "What do you want to do for your birthday?"

Birthday's weren't normally something that Hermione celebrated. Harry remembered sometimes but Ginny always remembered, and her parents obviously had when they were alive.

"Oh, uh well something small is fine. I don't expect anything special."

"How can you not expect anything special? It's your birthday!"

"I haven't been very big on birthday's these past few years. I just want something nice and cozy with you, is that alright?"

"Perfect, even if you don't want something special I will make it so romantic it'll knock your socks off!"

Hermione laughed as they entered the building and met with their friends.

"Hey, Hermione you're birthday's coming up soon isn't it?"

She looked over at Charlie silently asking if he had told anyone. "It is."

"Well, what are we doing?"

"Please, nothing." The group looked at Charlie for an answer but he just shook his head. "I'll meet up with you later." Hermione said leaving the building.

"What's up with her?"

"She's not into birthdays." The reserve staff was from all over Europe but they had all heard or been affected by the war, everyone assumed that was why she disliked celebrating. The Weasley's were the few that Hermione had trusted in knowing that her parents were killed in Australia, apparently Voldemort had known what she was doing and had taken the opportunity to hurt Hermione.

Charlie understood why her birthday was so sad for her but he was still determined to make her first birthday with them together special enough to take her mind off things. Not to mention he had the perfect gift for her and he was excited to see the look on her face when she opened it.


	6. Chapter 6

On the morning of Hermione's birthday, Charlie woke her up with breakfast in bed, fresh flowers on the table, and her gift wrapped on her bed side table.

"Good morning birthday girl." He greeted as he kissed all over her face. "It's time to wake up and start the day!"

Hermione groaned but pulled the covers off of herself anyway. "Oh Charlie, this looks amazing." The full breakfast he had made was still steaming on the plate, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, various puddings, and beans with tea to drink. It was just like being back at home.

They ate together before Charlie put the gift box in her hands. "I should let you know, I got this months ago before we even started seeing each other. It was perfect for you."

When Hermione opened the box she gasped and immediately put the necklace on. "I love it, thank you so much!" Throwing her arms around Charlie's neck she kissed him fervently.

"We should probably be getting ready for work." And so the pair walked to get their assignment, only to surprise Hermione when they walked in with cake.

"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"It's nothing love," Jeremy said as he hugged her. "You're one of us and you know we celebrate birthdays."

Hermione decided it wasn't terrible to be eating cake with her friends, they hadn't sung any songs to her or anything like that which was good. After the cake was gone everyone went on to their assignments and to Hermione's delight she and Charlie were checking up on Buddy.

The day was wonderful, Hermione was happy the entire time and she loved her gift. Charlie was ecstatic that he had completely blown her away and he still had dinner for her.

"Good job on the necklace Charlie, she really does adore it." Tessa was Hermione's best friend on the reserve and knew almost as much about her as Charlie did. "It must have cost a fortune though!"

"It wasn't that much, besides she's my partner she deserves nice things for putting up with me!" It wasn't a lie, that was the reason he had originally bought the necklace, but it turned into so much more when they started dating.

Later that night, Charlie was busy in his kitchen making Hermione's favorite dinner, fettucini alfredo with a side salad when the birthday girl herself walked in.

"This looks great!"

Charlie leaned down to kiss her, admiring the new jewelry she was sporting. "I know it's your favorite so I thought you would enjoy it tonight. Besides I wanted to talk to you and thought that this would soften you up to my idea."

Hermione pulled out the plates and silverware to set the table, but stopped when Charlie mentioned talking to her. "What is it?"

"It's nothing bad, I was just thinking that we've been together for a few months now and I wanted to know when you would want to tell everyone. It would be nice that our friends at least know and give us support in the matter."

"What do you mean by support?"

"It's not just you mum's been badgering about settling down you know. If you felt upset when she made up your mind for you, how do you think it feels being her son? Jeremy's been trying to set me up on dates as well. They all think I'm lonely and therefore throwing myself into work, it would be nice for them to know I'm not."

"Charlie, if you want to tell people I'm fine with that. I would much rather tell your mum in person when we visit over Christmas but that's ultimately up to you."

So they decided to start telling people that they were a couple which excited and terrified them all at the same time. But as it turned out, everyone was happy about it and even sighed with relief when they found out. Obviously, since it had been going on for so long the relationship wasn't going to affect their work so no one was worried, and some even thought it would make the working aspect stronger.

Over the next month they told their work colleagues about the relationship and were finally able to be more open with their affection throughout the day.

Since everyone on the reserve staff came from different countries, there were several new holidays to be shared. One of the hatchery workers was from America and wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone since he wouldn't be home with his family for it and even though the British coworkers gave him the mickey for it, he still wanted to host everyone for dinner. So, that week everyone prepared for the huge dinner. Everyone was to pitch in something since there were almost a hundred people on staff, but Henry was adamant that he get the turkey himself. Hermione made cranberry sauce and by that Thursday had three gallons of the stuff. Charlie was tasked with bringing butter for the rolls and potatoes.

The dinner itself went splendidly; everyone dressed up nicely and ate together for the first time since the mess tent was changed to a lounge. There was no food left over when all was said and done which made Henry very happy. Apparently it was a successful Thanksgiving, and he even took a picture of everyone to send home to his family.

Hermione was happy to see that the people she worked with wanted to share their culture so far from home and was excited for the next holiday. But with Christmas coming up, that thought made her sad. She loved Christmas at the Burrow, but Christmas at the reserve was just as festive and fun. They decorated the enclosures, set up lights around the gates and all along the houses, a giant tree was set up in the middle of the enclosure and trees were available for anyone to take into their house. Some of the older ladies who worked the desk jobs knitted stockings for everyone to hang over their fireplaces, and mistletoe was placed on doorways.

This Christmas it was Charlie's turn to go home, and since it didn't make sense to break up the partners for the holiday Hermione got to go home as well. They still decorated their houses for the days leading up to Christmas and for the new year, even placed gifts for each other under the trees, but they would not be there to celebrate.

"I think we should tell your mum about us when we're home for the holiday." They had been discussing when to break the news of their relationship to the rest of the Weasley's and since they wanted to do it in person this was the only opportunity they would have for a long while.

"I already know that my family will love you Mem, I just hope they all take this news well."

He didn't have to say it out loud, they both knew he meant Ron. But since he visited he had sent a few owls to Hermione and they mentioned him seeing someone, so she hoped that his delusion of them reconciling was over.

Only a few days before they left, Charlie started to get more and more worried about telling his family about them, he wasn't so much worried that they wouldn't like Hermione, but more that everyone would be disappointed at him for "taking his little brothers girlfriend."

"Let's open gifts tonight. It'll be easier than bringing them with us when we travel." In truth, Hermione just really wanted to know what Charlie had gotten her, but it was as good of an excuse as any. They agreed to have dinner at Hermione's and open gifts afterwards.

She decided to cook a simple dinner of lemon chicken and green beans and Charlie walked in right as it was finishing up with an arm full of gifts.

"Don't look too excited, they're all pretty small."

"I'll love them no matter what."

They ate and then raced to sit by the tree and open each other's gifts one at a time. Hermione had gotten Charlie a new Chudley Cannon's jersey to wear for their important games, a new pair of dragon skin gloves for work, and several books on dragons that had just come out.

When Hermione opened her gifts she was amazed to find new charms for her bracelet of a flame and a snowflake.

"One is for Buddy because you love him so much, and the other is for the first Christmas we spent together a couple."

The other gifts were books that she had wanted and a new journal to jot down ideas.

"These are the greatest gifts ever, thank you so much."

"I'm glad you like them Mem, but I have one more thing for you." Charlie leaned over and gave Hermione the most gentle and passionate kiss they had shared. "I love you."

"I love you too Charlie."

* * *

 

"Oh you're finally home, look at the two of you it's like you're not even eating over there. Let me make you something to eat."

"It's good to see you too mum, but we actually have something we want to tell you first." Molly continued bustling around the kitchen making a version of a light snack that looked more like a full dinner. "Hermione and I have been seeing each other."

The bustling stopped, Molly turned to look at her son shocked and tears started forming in her eyes. "Oh thank goodness, I'm so happy for you two! And I'm sorry about the nonsense with Ron dear, if I had known I never would have tried to make it happen."

"Nothing to worry about mum, we just wanted to let you know. And we are very happy together."

"So when you got hurt, you were seeing each other then?"

"Yes, but we had only been out a few times and didn't want to tell you if it wasn't something serious."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Almost half a year."

Just then Ron, Harry, Ginny, and George walked into the kitchen. Hermione and Charlie jumped up to hug them all.

"So what's been going on half a year?" George picked at the platter of food as he sat down.

Molly couldn't contain herself long enough for Charlie to open his mouth. "They're a couple!"

"Since when?" Ron as always asked the most obvious question.

"Half a year you idiot, like mum said."

Ginny stared at Hermione. "So when you told me about that date you went on….ew Merlin's beard and your neck!" The realization sunk in as Ginny thought about her best friend and brother having sex with each other.

Christmas went off without a hitch after that, Charlie's worries about Ron were unwarranted as he was dating Luna Lovegood, everyone was happy for them and George even owed Ginny a sickle for losing the bet they had made about them.

That night, Mrs. Weasley made sure to keep the two of them very separate as far as sleeping arrangements and told everyone to get a good night's sleep to celebrate in the morning.

Of course telling everyone they were going to be sleeping in different rooms only worked as long as Molly was awake, and as soon as she went off to bed Hermione snuck out of Bill's old room and into Charlie's.

"Happy Christmas," She sighed curling up in his arms and falling asleep. "I love you."

"I love you too Mem, Happy Christmas."


	7. Chapter 7

Christmas ended and everyone had to return to their everyday lives. Hermione and Charlie went back to the reserve and were excited to see that there would be a New Year's party for everyone.

"Looks like I'll finally have someone to ring in the new year with." Charlie mumbled into Hermione's ear when they found out.

When the party day finally arrived everyone continued with their daily duties while those who were not on shift helped decorate the open space on the reserve. Tables were set out and would be covered with food and drinks, speakers were set up around the corners for the music, paper lanterns floated above for light when it got dark, and a timer was put on top of the main building counting down until midnight.

The dragon enclosures were still decorated for Christmas with lights twisted around the doorways to the different enclosures and the houses still had lights around the rooftops. The actual decorations that said anything about Christmas were gone already, but the lights remained.

Hermione decided to visit Buddy since she hadn't seen him for a few days. He had grown, but was still very playful and came up to Hermione immediately. Charlie hovered above them on his broom, watching just in case something happened but a huge smile crept across his face as he watched the two wrestle around and as Hermione crawled onto his back stroking his neck as she did so.

Charlie never thought that he would find someone that loved dragons as much as he did, but it was obvious to him now that Hermione would love animals and creatures no matter what. She was so playful with the small dragon that she might as well have been acting like it was a dog.

The reserve had been Charlie's home for almost ten years, away from his own family and friends that he had grown up with, but he had created a new life there thinking that no one from his life in England would ever be there experiencing it with him. How wrong he was. Maybe Hermione had held a special place in his heart for longer than he cared to admit, they had met each other while she was still in Hogwarts but she had been too young for Charlie to have any feelings for her. But he recognized the bravery and intelligence that she showed during the final battle and admired how she took control of the situation. That was why he told her about the opening for a new tamer at the reserve, thinking that with all the reflexes she had picked up fighting would do well working with the dragons. And the day she showed up was one of the happier days of his life.

_Charlie watched along with the rest as a new woman stepped out of the main building following Vanessa who was giving the tour. The girl was average height with short mousy brown hair, her skin was pale like she never saw the sun, and she was underweight. Immediately Charlie recognized Hermione, when he had seen her in the Great Hall after Harry defeated Voldemort there wasn't much to the girl left. Her hair had turned brittle and dirty, her bones stuck out under her skin, and her face looked tormented._

_Now, she looked healthier, no doubt his mother was to thank for her cooking and nutrient potions. Her hair, although all cut off now, also looked much better. Charlie started walking towards the two women as they were looking out at some of the larger enclosures from a hill._

" _Charlie, this is-"_

" _Hermione Granger, it's great to see you!"_

" _Hello Charlie, I hope you're alright with me taking you up on the offer to be here. It really is just as beautiful as you said."_

" _Since you're here, I could use a partner to work with. I think you and I know each other's styles well enough to work well together, what do you say?"_

_Hermione's eyes lit up, to Charlie it seemed like she had come to Romania expecting to work alone. "That would be wonderful, thank you."_

" _I'll go and see about getting the paperwork done. Vanessa knows everything about the reserve, if you want to learn about it listen to her." And with a wink he was off._

Just like that Charlie was made into a mentor for a new tamer for the third time. The other two had learned and worked their way up in the reserve, Charlie had decided to stay where he was working with the dragons. And then Hermione came along and was the most curious person he had ever met. She was willing to learn and read everything she could just to know what she was doing.

Hermione had been as her family said she had always been, someone who always had her nose in a book and loved spouting random facts. But before the way she hadn't been adventurous at all, then she travelled and got inventive with the hiding methods they used, and now Charlie was watching as she laid on top of a dragon.

Thinking back to the first day on the reserve with Hermione, Charlie was aware of the fact that he didn't know her side of the story. He didn't know why she had decided to cut off her long curly locks or why she had even come to Romania in the first place.

Hermione sat on the ground with Buddy nuzzling with the dragon, also thinking of the first day on the reserve.

_The portkey had brought her to a wooden shack that she was told was right on the edge of the reserve. The cardboard box in the corner was filled of old portkeys and Hermione joined the broken sandal with the rest._

_Outside, there was a woman waiting in the shade._

" _Miss Granger?" The woman walked towards her with a hand outstretched. "I'm Vanessa Kudrow, I'll be showing you around the reserve today. I hope your trip was pleasant?"_

" _It was, thank you."_

_Vanessa showed her around, the infirmary, hatchery, residences, main building, and finally the enclosures. When the girls stood on the hill overlooking where everyone could see almost all of the enclosures._

" _Charlie, this is-"_

" _Hermione Granger, it's great to see you."_

_Hermione's heart jumped into her throat, there wasn't much that didn't scream confidence from Charlie. There was a group of others behind him watching as she strode towards Hermione and wrapped his arms around her. Beside her, Vanessa visibly tensed, apparently Charlie was someone everyone fancied._

" _Hello Charlie, I hope you're alright with me taking you up on the offer to be here. It really is just as beautiful as you said."_

" _Since you're here, I could use a partner to work with. I think you and I know each other's styles well enough to work well together, what do you say?"_

_Hermione's eyes lit up, to Charlie it seemed like she had come to Romania expecting to work alone. "That would be wonderful, thank you."_

" _I'll go and see about getting the paperwork done. Vanessa knows everything about the reserve, if you want to learn about it listen to her."_

_When he jogged off Vanessa sighed, "I'm extremely jealous that he just offered to mentor you like that."_

" _I'm really good friends with his younger brother."_

" _Still." Huffing, Vanessa started walking again. "Let's keep going."_

_It didn't take much to notice that Vanessa was hurt by the interaction she just witnessed. Hermione thanked her for everything but decided that she would rather take her time to see everything._

She and Charlie had been partners since then, with only one major incident and a few minor scraps. Now they were dating and everything seemed to be going wonderfully. There wasn't a single day since she had stepped foot in Romania that Hermione felt awkward or insecure about her decision. Getting away from Harry and Ron helped her develop her own personality away from Hermione Granger Savior of the World.

Charlie made her feel different than Ron and Harry ever did. He encouraged her to learn, to read as much as she could and to be the best that she could be. The adventure and risks involved with dragon taming was much different than the risks she had to take with Ron and Harry.

It wasn't as if she hadn't felt safe with her friends, but, with Charlie she felt more than safe. Hermione felt capable of anything with him, and like she could really be herself. Working with dragons gave her the adrenaline rush that she seemed incapable of getting away from only in a safer environment and with proper care if she got hurt. Everything about the reserve seemed comfortable.

"I should probably go now, but I'll visit you as soon as I can." Buddy's eyes looked sad as he realized his friend was leaving, but Hermione kissed him on the nose and he seemed happier. "Have I ever told you about the time I rode a dragon across Britain?"

Charlie's eyes widened. "You seem to have left that story out of your life. I would have thought that story would be front page news for the Prophet."

"I think everyone was too scared about it happening, and there was almost no one in Diagon Alley anyhow. But everyone who ever doubted that the lower vaults of Gringotts were guarded by a dragon are now proven wrong."

"What was it like riding it?"

"I was just happy it was free, although I'm sure he's been replaced by now. Also not being in the way of its fire and the curses being thrown at us was a good thing. We jumped off into a lake somewhere, I don't even know where, and the dragon flew off but I'm sure that it's still living the hills somewhere."

The sun had set as they walked towards the houses to get ready for the night. Hermione had picked out a lovely black dress to wear which went over one shoulder and came down to her mid-thigh, and a pair of red flats. Charlie had never seen her in a dress except for Bill's wedding but he wasn't paying particular attention to anyone that night, he was eager to see his girlfriend in something other than work clothes.

Around nine Charlie left his house to pick up Hermione for the party, he had been told to match her with a black shirt and red tie and did so, only rolling up the sleeves of his shirt in a minor rebellious way.

"I'll be down in a moment." Hermione yelled when she heard the door open. Her make-up was nearly finished and it was flawless, magic really did come in handy as far as setting everything so it didn't smudge. Slipping on the flats and grabbing her red clutch, Hermione ran down to the sitting room to meet with Charlie. "How do I look?"

"Fantastic. The other girls won't hold a candle to you tonight, love."

The party was fun, everyone on the reserve was there eating and drinking their fill watching as the moon came out and the clock counted down.

"TEN! NINE! EIGHT!" Everyone started counting down.

"You know," Charlie had wrapped his arms around Hermione's slender waist. "I couldn't be happier to be here with you tonight Hermione."

"SEVEN! SIX! FIVE!"

"I really do love you, more than you can know."

"FOUR! THREE! TWO!"

"I love you too, Charlie." Hermione turned around smiling into her boyfriend's face, not paying attention to anyone else around them.

"ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Cheers erupted around them, everyone was hugging and kissing and celebrating. Champagne bottles popped open and glasses were passed around but Hermione and Charlie only focused on each other. Finally, they welcomed the New Year with a kiss.

It was the most passionate kiss they had ever shared, like they were pouring all of their love into their lips to meet with the other person. Confetti was falling around them and on their heads, but it didn't matter because they were together.

"Happy New Year, Charlie."

"Happy New Year, Mem."

A feeling of bliss spread through Hermione's body, this was the first year in almost nine years that there wouldn't be something terrible to look forward to. And even if there was, Charlie would be by her side through it all.

Hermione Granger was at peace.


End file.
